Final Stats

DeKALB - The NIU volleyball team (4-6) played its second-consecutive match against an SEC foe Friday night, hosting Alabama (5-7) in front of 611 fans at Victor E. Court. Taking the first set of the of match, 25-23, the Huskies were unable to capitalize in a deuce set and  hold on to momentum as they fell to the Crimson Tide in four sets, 23-25, 28-26, 25-15, 25-23.

Junior Jenna Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) totaled 13 kills and .455 in the match with four blocks and a service ace while classmate Lauren Zielinski (Oak Forest, Ill./Marist) paced NIU in hitting percentage (.474) with 11 kills. Freshman Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc) totaled a season-high nine kills.

“We’re playing against really good teams right now, and we’re trying to find ways to finish and make the right play at the right time that’s our story right now,” said Head Coach Ray Gooden. “We put ourselves in really good spots in the first and second sets and we built a good lead in the fourth set but now its about finishing and we’re learning how to do that. Tonight was matter of needing to be more consistent.”

It was a back and forth first set as each team traded points to a 9-9 tie. Though Alabama was the first to reach 10, the Huskies traded points with the Crimson Tide to an 11-11 deadlock. UA then went 8-2 run to take a 19-13 lead in the match, until the Huskies went on a 6-0 run, highlighted by four kills, to tie the match, 19-19. The Huskies accrued seven kills in their last 12 points to clinch the set, 25-23.

Alabama controlled most of the second set, maintaining a four point lead until a late 3-0 NIU run forced a sea change as the Huskies came back to within one point, 21-20. Serving for set point, 24-21, the Crimson Tide were unable to tie the match as the Huskies rallied back to tie it up and force a deuce set. Alabama would take the set, 28-26, to tie the match.

At the intermission, the NIU middle accounted for 22 of the Huskies 32 kills, hitting an impressive .606 in the first two sets. Radtke and Zielinski paced the middle with eight kills a piece while Austin led the outside attack with eight. Alabama took control of the third set, taking a 2-1 lead in the match with its 25-15 victory.

Tied 4-4 in the fourth set, NIU went on an 8-0 run to take command of the period, 12-4. UA  closed the gap and tied the match, 15-15, but the Huskies rallied back to keep the match alive and tied, 20-20, and then, 23-23. The Crimson Tide took the final two points of the set, including the final point via a block by Kat Hutson and Leah Lawrence to clinch the match, 25-23.

NIU’s middle blockers combined for 33 kills in the match, hitting .416 as a trio. In the back line, Malia Gabel (Pinckney, Mich./Father Gabriel Richard) totaled 12 digs in her first career start while Anna Brereton (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) led all players in the match with 19 digs. T'ara Austin (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Central), who finished with 13 kills, posted a perfect receiving average in 20 total attempts. Alabama’s Tabitha Brown led the Crimson Tide in kills with 17.

Northern Illinois University will book end the Huskie Invitational tomorrow, taking on Western Kentucky at 11 a.m. Central and close the tournament versus Northern Iowa at 7:30 p.m.